Online Workshops, Presentations, and Portfolio Reviews
Learn and Work on Your Photography from Home
It would be my absolute pleasure to be able to teach and work with you to improve your photography and portfolio.
I offer online presentations on a variety of street photography topics for you, your friends, or your camera club. I give portfolio reviews, both general reviews and more in-depth work on editing and putting together portfolios and projects, and I create portfolio websites for photographers. I also offer affordable video courses that can be taken anytime and anywhere.
Portfolio Reviews and Design
I offer portfolio reviews in a variety of levels:
Level 1: General Portfolio Review
Send me 20-30 of your photographs, I will send you a list of questions to think about, and then we will set up a live online meeting to go through all of them, figuring out the strongest photographs and removing the weakest. We will talk about the overall impression of the photographs and how they fit together, cover shooting mistakes, talk about your editing style, and explore what you are trying to say and your direction going forward.
Level 2: Portfolio and Project Organization and Editing
Here we go into even more detail. We will take your body of work and organize it into a portfolio or multiple portfolios and projects depending on your work. We will go over the editing of each photograph to look as good as possible and sequence them for the maximum possible effect. We will also figure out what each portfolio or project is missing and talk about what you should strive to capture for them going forward.
Level 3: Portfolio Website Creation
Here I will help you with everything needed to get your portfolio website created. I can either advise in its creation or create the website for you. We’ll create a slick and streamlined portfolio website that will only show your strongest work and allow you to grow it in a very focused way. We can add things such as print-lab integration if you would like to do print sales and we’ll cover artist statements and similar aspects of putting together a complete portfolio site.
Once it is completed, it will be very easy for you to update and I will make sure you know everything needed to keep it going (and I will be available for advice as needed).
Level 4: Continued Mentorship
Here we can do frequent or infrequent meetings where we cover your new work, direction, and any other topics that you may want to explore. We can do this either through live online meetings or through email, whichever is preferable.
Schedule Live Photography Presentations & Workshops
Schedule a live one-on-one or group photography presentation (invite your photographer friends or camera club). I use Zoom and we can cover a variety of topics and include a question and answer session.
I can create a variety of custom presentations depending on your interests but here are my most popular presentations.
Sessions are typically between an hour and 90 minutes, although timing can be very flexible.
An Introduction to Street Photography, From Beginner to Advanced Topics
Advanced Street Photography Topics
A History of Street Photographers
Editing and Portfolio / Project Creation for Street Photographers.
An Introduction to Urban Landscape / Cityscape Photography
Online Photography Courses
Editing and Putting Together a Portfolio in Street Photography
Editing is one of my favorite things to do, and now is a great time to brush up and improve your editing skills, organize your archive, and work on your portfolio and projects.
This class will teach you how to use Lightroom from start to finish along with editing philosophies and a variety of editing topics in 3.5 hours (although what you will learn will pertain to other editing programs as well). I focused specifically on the aspects of the program that are important so as not to overwhelm with unnecessary content.
You will learn my organizing strategies, how to develop a wide variety of black and white and color photographs, printing, creating book mockups, and how to create a portfolio and multiple projects. I will take you through three of my projects and explain how I developed them. And we’ll evaluate the editing work of five photographers with varied styles.
Watch it anywhere and anytime.
Watch James talk about his work on Fox 5 News:
About James: James has lived in New York for his entire life (besides a 5 year stint in Madison, Wisconsin, but he doesn’t want to talk about that.) Like many Manhattanites, he is a terrible driver and cook, but he’s an excellent navigator. He has been practicing the art of street photography since he first picked up a camera, has worked as a portrait and fine art photographer in New York since 2005, has had a regular feature for the NY Daily News reporting on different neighborhoods of the City through street portraits and interviews with locals, is a certified New York tour and workshop guide (so get ready for some history!), and has sold and licensed his photography of New York to collectors and companies from around the world.
Reviews:
“James was a generous and gentle instructor, comfortably smart about what he knows. His individualized instruction was just what I needed and to the point. I cannot wait for more! Meanwhile, I’ll dig more deeply into his thoughtfully written e-books, along with the books of street photographers he recommended.”
– Sandra Ullmann
“I’ve had some time to reflect on the workshop and as a workshop veteran I honestly can’t see how you could have made it better. Your tone and attitude was positive, available, patient and instructive. I found I could ask you anything and learn something from your reply. Out of respect for your quality, I am trying to find something to improve but nothing was even B- work.”
– George Whitson
“My overall impression of the workshop would be nothing but positive. Having never taken any type of photography class, I really didn’t know what to expect and was pleased with the way the time was structured and the course presented.“
– Scott Dorney
“This was a great street photography workshop for all levels. I know I left as a better and more confident photographer and it changed my way to approach the street.”
– Lars Wiklund
“The experience was amazing. I loved every minute. I learned to think about and change my camera settings as my lighting changes on the fly (I am not perfect, but I am better). I learned a little bit more about a photographer’s lifestyle along with insights to routines and workflows.“
– Tammie Bryant
“James is not only a top guy, he’s engaging and knowledgeable. In 5 minutes he changed the way I will do street photography for life.”
– Duncan Stafford
“James is a highly knowledgeable expert in his field and has a great way of delivering and demonstrating key techniques required for street photography. I thought I knew a bit already, but James showed me in particular really useful ways of getting the most out of my ISO and various camera modes to allow for quick capturing during street photography – very crucial as the moments pass so quickly, more so than other types of photography.
I’d highly recommend James’ workshop to anyone who loves photography and is looking for an excellent teacher and a very rewarding experience. I am grateful to have taken from James techniques and knowledge that will continue to shape my photography process for years to come.”
– Chawit Rochanakit
“I loved the workshop and feel like it renewed my interest in, and love of, photography. James does a wonderful job of teaching technical information and making you feel successful while adding in lots of interesting information.”
– Erin Peacock
“James opened my eyes to small things I never thought of photographing before.”
– Nour Aboujeb
“James has a great personality, laid back, very easy to hang out with.”
– Gail Mancuso
“All in all, it was a terrific workshop! Street photography was completely new to me—I can’t imagine a better introduction than James provided. I wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone who wants to expand his photographic horizons. It’s fun, enlightening, and fascinating, and James is a genuinely nice guy and a superb teacher!”
– Joe Routon
